This off-season, I’ll be taking a look back at past Bowman releases. It’s more about the players and how they’re progressing in baseball within the hobby landscape, not an examination of how good or bad the product still is or can be – but that’s an easy measuring stick to summarize with. This is the third in this series. I previously wrote about 2018 Bowman Draft, 2019 Bowman, 2019 Bowman Chrome, and 2019 Bowman Draft.
For the first time in this series, I’m combining two releases. Why? Bowman’s a pretty nice release, but 2020 Bowman Chrome is very shallow. Topps gave us zero 1st Bowman base cards (non-auto) in that release. That takes the usual 10 or so base-only names off the board. That release also gave us a good number of non-1st autos (Devin Mann, Erik Miller, etc) which were previously covered when they had their 1st Bowman cards. That release also had the backside autos of base-only subjects from the Bowman release, which knocks off several more names. Finally, 2020 Bowman Chrome has a significant percentage of players who are no longer playing baseball or are irrelevant. Add it all up, and if I wrote up BC separately, it’d only be to discuss around 30 players, and many of those are quite fringy as hobby relevance goes. But it’s still a nice top end on that release. Let’s see who we’ve got!
At the end of each player section there will be a (B) for Bowman, (BC) for Bowman Chrome, or (both) to keep straight who’s in what release.
Top of the Crop
There’s no doubt who the top dog in these combined releases are – Bobby Witt Jr. Being the second overall pick in the 2020 Draft and having MLB bloodlines, he would always be a hobby favorite. But he’s certainly backed it up with performance, and he’s still improving across the board. Witt dropped his K% by 4% while improving his BB numbers a hair, and hit for significantly more pop than in his 2022 rookie campaign. He doesn’t lack dynamism either. In 2023, his age-23 season – he was just 1 SB shy of a 30 HR / 50 SB season. He’s one of the fastest runners in the league, and while he’s not a wizard defensively there’s no doubt he’ll be a SS for years to come. There’s not much more to say. I think he’s already at superstar hobby status and the Royals do too, inking him to an 11-year deal on Monday. There’s a little room to go yet to get to the tippy-top, but the Royals are a tough market to get there. (B)
The best name from the Bowman Chrome release, Michael Harris II, has solidified himself for two years now as a fan-favorite everyday center-fielder, including winning the 2022 ROY. His best trait is putting bat-to-ball with authority. Though he doesn’t have much natural loft in his swing, he has no issue picking out mistakes and hammering them into the bleachers. He has a highly aggressive approach and chases a lot, but does it really matter when he’s still hitting the ball with regularity and as hard as he does? Harris is truly a 5-tool talent. His defense is his only tool that’s definitely plus, but everything adds up to what we all know he is – one of the top 20 OF in baseball. That makes him a star for both the hobby and real life. (BC)
Jasson Dominguez is very much still a prospect and will still be so at mid-season this year as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. But he’s up here because he has so little to prove in the minors, and he’s been a hobby darling for so long. The #1 name in the Bowman at release, there was no way he would maintain the impossibly lofty expectations collectors put on him. But he’s a great prospect – always has been. Dominguez has excellent understanding of the strike zone and is mature enough to take walks when constantly being pitched around. But there’s a lot of room to grow in pitch selection yet, and that’s one of the two things that makes him so intriguing. The other, of course, is his incredible raw power. It’s irrelevant that he’s never hit 20 HR in any season so far – he’s only 21. It’s at least a 30 HR ceiling. Coupled with enough speed to play CF and steal double digit-bases, there’s a 50th percentile outcome that he’s an above average MLB player. That’s not something we can say about many prospects. Hobby-wise, my write-up here isn’t even positive enough to recommend him as a buy. There’s still the expectation that he’ll be a superstar in the eyes of Yankee fans, and those pockets are both deep and large. (B)
On the surface, it seems like the rookie years of Anthony Volpe and Jeremy Peña mirror each other (one year apart). Gold glove? Check. 20 HR? Check. Provide positive value on the base-paths? Check. Sub-.300 OBP? Check. That was fun – but no – they’re not similar. For starters, Volpe was 2.5 years younger in his rookie year, so his expectation of being a mature hitter is far less. There’s organic growth still coming. Volpe also had higher marks that are quantifiably repeatable – Hard Hit%, BB%, and Chase% were all significantly better over the whole season than Pena. I’m saying that if you’re just looking at Volpe’s .209 BA, don’t freak out. That’ll improve. Even if he ends up as a .235 hitter, he’ll pretty easily be a 30 HR bat – that’d make him an All-Star SS for the Yankees, and a hobby superstar. It’s the expectation at this point, and he’s always been priced as such. (B)
The top pitcher of these combined releases, Tarik Skubal is at least a #2 SP. With surgery to repair a flexor tendon mixed in, the lefty’s combined totals for 2022-23 in 197 innings include 219 K, a 3.23 ERA, and a 1.05 WHIP. His command was the last to click, and boy did it ever – he walked just 1.6 BB/9 in 2023. What he commands the best is his elite fastball and plus change. Hitters can’t just sit on those two pitches, though, because he also has a slider, sinker, and knuckle-curve in his repertoire. Lefties hit just .125 against him in 2023, and overall his .198 BAA would have been second in the majors. Skubal possesses an awesome combination of command and stuff. The only knock on him is that he hasn’t shown this maturity for a full single season yet because of his elbow injury – but that’s in the rear-view now. He’s already come back from it better than he was. There’s still a ton of room for his cards to grow. If you’re a collector with universal interest, he’s one of the easiest buys out there right now. (B)
Solid Major Leaguers
For the second consecutive year, Joe Ryan was a valuable rotation piece. The inflated ERA in 2023 was solely due to the big jump in HR he gave up, which is worth noting. But also worth noting is his BB/9 dropping from 2.9 to 1.9 and his K/9 increasing from 9.2 to 11. That last note makes him interesting for the hobby. He hangs his hat on a fastball with elite movement, and affected that 2022-23 change by throwing his splitter more and ditching his curve entirely – it’s a tangible difference, and should lead to continued success. He’ll always be a fly ball pitcher and he lacks velocity, so it’ll be important that his command remains great, or those HR numbers will become untenable. (B)
Jeremy Peña won a gold glove at SS as a rookie in 2022, hitting 22 HR and was top 5 in ROY voting. 2023 was a different story. Not a bad story overall, but bad for the hobby. Most importantly for his team, his overall offensive skill set took a small step forward. Buoyed by a strong second half, his OBP jumped .035 to .324, which was a major weakness in his rookie campaign. He also dropped his K% from 24 to 20. The Astros will take those two positives all day, but in the hobby we like power, and dropping to 10 HR for the entire season is quite worrisome for us. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle – Peña is an evolving hitter, and his XBH% didn’t drop significantly even though his HR did. I don’t think he gets back to 20 HR, but I think those other offensive numbers will continue to tick up as he catches more barrels. His defense slipped to an above-average level in his sophomore campaign, but it’s hardly a concern. He’s still the Astros everyday SS. (B)
Although Jarren Duran showed great improvement (121 OPS+) in his third calendar year in the majors, there are two things holding him back from truly being a star. First, the Red Sox deployed him in a platoon – he only saw 49 PA’s vs LHP in 2023, though he was still really good against them! That could change in 2024 with only Rob Refsnyder currently challenging him for playing time. Second, he doesn’t have a swing geared for power. It’s a bit frustrating because he does hit the ball hard. It’s just generally at a lower launch angle – but it makes sense to accentuate his greatest asset – speed. Coupled with being an excellent instinct for knowing when to run, he’s a major threat to steal. That speed also makes him a league average CF despite having a poor arm. Hobby-wise, there’s still a bit of intrigue that he changes his swing a little to get to 15-18 HR, but it’s more important that he stays healthy and proves he can be a universally good hitter. The Red Sox certainly count on him to be a significant part of their team. (B)
It’s the en-vogue thing to have a 20+ HR-hitting catcher, but only a few teams can say they have the potential for a 35 HR-hitting catcher. The Mets have one in Francisco Álvarez. Other than that, he mostly fits the low-average, high-K%, average defense mold that many catchers do. He simply has shown he has more power, and he did it as a 21 YO. He did show some weakness to change-ups and breaking pitches, but that’s to be expected for a player of his age. There are better years ahead as he matures. In the New York market especially, he’s a great name for the hobby in the toughest position. (BC)
Gabriel Moreno toes the line between hobby good and real life good. He’s always had that profile – solid defender behind the plate, never a K% over 20, never a batting average under .280, and on the negative side, never HR totals over 12. It’s impressive that he continued all that over his entire career moving up levels and into the majors this year. Entering his year-24 season, there are likely even better days ahead with his hit tool – I think he’ll hit .300 in multiple seasons. But I also don’t think he’ll ever get to even 15 HR, and that makes him squarely a middling name for the hobby. Don’t get me wrong, he carries hobby value as a future All-Star catcher and is priced accordingly, but there’s not much ceiling. (BC)
MLB
Though he has more hobby upside than Gabriel Moreno, I’m sliding Logan O’Hoppe here because he’s done less in the majors. Considering he missed a large chunk of the season with a torn labrum in his (non-throwing) shoulder, he had a nice 51-game rookie campaign. He was acquired from the Phillies to be the catcher of the future for the Angels; the fact that he was able to produce with that choppy playing time is a good sign. It’s also important to note that like Moreno, he’s only 24 this year – that’s perfectly acceptable for a 2nd year catcher. So what does the future hold? I think he’s at least league average across the board for the position on both offense and defense. I think at peak it’ll be something like .270/.360/.500 with 20+ HR. He has the power – he already hit 14 HR in 2023 in just 182 AB’s. I think that much power is a bit fluky, but feel free to buy into it if you want! It seems collectors are already buying full freight – I can’t recommend him as a buy even if his future looks quite bright. It’s the position, not the player that makes me say that. (BC)
Luis Matos was a hyped prospect for years, with a hit tool projection ranging from plus to double-plus. There’s nothing to indicate this is no longer the case, but hobby-wise there’s some concern. First and foremost, he’s not showing signs that he’ll grow into the average power some thought he would. Across AA/AAA/MLB in 2023, he hit just 44 XBH in 482 AB’s. Only two of his 14 HR came at the major league level where he spent the most time. Even at just age at 21, you’d like to see a little more pop to add that second dynamic element to his game. Second, the Giants signed Jung Hoo Lee to play CF, pushing Matos back down to AAA for now. I like the move for the Giants, because it’s clear that Matos isn’t quite ready to be the .290/.360/.425 hitter I expect him to be yet. There’s definitely still time, but no longer being a prospect, in the eyes of the hobby, will hurt his status as he works in the minors in 2024. (BC)
There’s a nice market for Vaughn Grissom now that he's been traded to a team that will use him in the majors, but let’s take a beat before we anoint him as a great name for the hobby. His hit tool is good – that’s not in doubt, and he’s already shown it’ll be enough to play in the majors as a lineup mainstay. But we care most about power and dynamism in the hobby, and Grissom possesses neither of those things as even an average asset. He’s also likely to hit at the bottom of the order in Boston, and while they’re throwing him at 2B, he still has to prove himself defensively. I think the hobby properly values him for now. It’ll likely take being at the top of the lineup and/or showing a little more pop to exceed where he is – but there’s also the x-factor of the Boston market. (BC)
There’s no shame in losing your gig to Anthony Volpe, but it’s more than that – Oswald Peraza took a step back in 2023. He’s a slick infield defender with good speed, so he has value to the big club. But his offense regressed so much that he spent more time in AAA than the majors. What looked like an MLB-ready above-average hit tool completely disappeared. He didn’t chase more, but he did whiff more. Way more. It’s a really bad sign for a player who’s never had more than below-average power potential. Can he rectify his issues and cement himself in a utility role with the Yankees? If the market is an indicator, the hobby doesn’t think so. (BC)
When it seems like the franchise hopes to play you less in 2024, it’s not a good sign. Such is the life of a utility player like Ezequiel Duran, who accrued a whopping 439 PA’s in 2023. He popped 14 HR and hit .274 in 2023 – not standout numbers, but considerable growth from his 2022 rookie season. The biggest obstacle is that he’s an odd piece – while he can play most anywhere he’s not a good defender, and his raw plus speed does not play well in either aspect that it should. So on a contending team as the Rangers are, he now is and should be a bench bat. He’s still only 24 on Opening Day so it’s possible there’s enough offensive potential to deodorize the defense, but I think the ship for him to do it with the Rangers has mostly sailed. (B)
It hasn’t clicked in the majors yet for Miguel Vargas on either offense or defense performance-wise, but let’s put the defense aside since he was learning to play 2B on the fly. Under the hood, a mature hitter with a patient approach persisted in 2023 even in the majors. What didn’t was any semblance of power. He hit 23 and 18 HR in his previous seasons in the minors. But nothing in his batted ball profile with Dodgers tells us that. It’s all weak contact, it goes beyond saying he has power, to the point where if we didn’t know better it’d be fair to doubt he has even an average hit tool. Vargas is a frustrating player whose future is tough to peg, except the Dodgers are almost certain to deploy him to Oklahoma City to begin 2024. (B)
Brenton Doyle may have won a gold glove in CF as a rookie this year, but man, is his offensive output tough to stomach. A .250 OBP isn’t ever OK, but he doesn’t even have enough pop (32 XBH in 400 AB’s) to ameliorate it. Even if he continues to get everyday playing time (and he might, it’s the Rockies) his hobby significance is minimal. His MiLB history says there might be a little more pop, but that very poor hit tool should continue. Like Doyle, Tucupita Marcano’s value lies in defense. He’s a utilityman though, and one without significant pop. His hit tool was better than Doyle’s, but not much. DFA’d by the Pirates and re-acquired by the Padres now, he’s just a replaceable part. (both BC)
The trade of Ryan Pepiot to the Rays, to me, signals that they think he can be a starter long-term. Of course, the way the Rays treat starters is a bit different, and mostly negative in hobby context. Pepiot’s fastball and change are clearly MLB quality offerings, but he still needs to develop command of a third pitch. That will be the difference maker between mid-rotation arm and swingman for Pepiot. It needs to come together really soon for the hobby to care at all – he’s already 26 and only has 76 innings in the majors to his credit. (BC)
Though Ken Waldichuk made it through a full season in a starter’s workload with the A’s in 2023, that won’t be the case this year. He’s currently rehabbing an elbow injury that required a PRP injection – as a best case he’ll be behind to start 2024, and at worst TJ in his near future. The numbers he put up were right in line with that of a back-end starter on bad team. He has a little more upside than that, but with the team context and injury there’s no reason to buy into it for the hobby right now. (B)
Sam Huff debuted way back in 2020 but hasn’t seen much playing time in the majors. As a catcher who was optioned and recalled 5 times in 2023, it’s pretty clear that he’s seen as a bit of a defensive void and third in that pecking order. He has power, but it comes with a lot of K even at the AAA level. Safe to ignore the 26 YO for the hobby. Lewin Diaz has seen a bit more time in the majors, but none of it in 2023. The Marlins, Pirates, Braves, and Orioles have all moved on from the defensively gifted 1B. He’s hoping to regain some of that mojo that made him a prospect of significance with the Nationals now. Huff (B), Diaz (BC)
What happened to Oscar González? Well, he predictably didn’t repeat his rookie year in 2022. I will always say this about high batting average players with a sub-5 BB%: he’d better have some elite power or other value, because that hit tool isn’t sustainable. It all came crashing down to it’s reciprocal in 2023, as his swing-happy tendencies yielded just a .213 OBP to open the year – that rightfully earned him a demotion and he didn’t make it back before late July. Even then, he looked like a bench bat / defensive replacement. Out of options now, Gonzalez was waived, claimed by the Yankees, then waived again and outrighted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this offseason — so there’s now a battle to re-gain a 40-man spot. His defense is good enough — it’s just all that lack of plate discipline. (B)
The hobby relevance of Vidal Bruján has faded markedly as we’ve gotten a look at him at the big league level. Though he provides great defensive value at several positions and has good raw speed, in a bubble those aren’t things we care about in the hobby. His bat has lacked any offensive impact whatsoever in the majors. It’s more than just a lack of power – it’s a low average EV, he doesn’t put bat to-ball enough, and he doesn’t have a strong BB%. Altogether he’s got a .438 OPS in 249 MLB at-bats. The scenery change to the Marlins will certainly not help his current status as a hobby afterthought. (B)
Aaron Ashby had some hobby relevance as he hit the majors with a devastating fastball-slider combo in 2021. But command never fully clicked for him, and its development was arrested when he went down with a shoulder issue and missed all of 2023. He’s likely headed back to the minors to begin 2024 as he figures out his role for the future. The worst part for the hobby is that he probably best now fits as a relief option – he has the stuff for it, and it’s more likely to keep him healthy. While I was projecting the move to the bullpen with Ashby, Jordan Balazovic is already there. It makes sense really – he doesn’t have great stuff, and his bevy of average pitches hasn’t yielded dominant results since 2019. I think his hobby relevance has completely evaporated, but could stick around as a low leverage reliever for several years. Hogan Harris threw 63 innings for the A’s in 2023 in a swingman capacity, but the results were pretty terrible and there’s no upside. Ashby & Harris (B), Balazovic (both)
Alex Vesia has always been a reliever, so there’s never been hobby interest, but now entering his 4th year in the Dodgers’ bullpen, with a return to his 2022 form there’s a chance he garners a small following. Gus Varland is another reliever with the Dodgers’ thing going for him, though he’s new to the team and may not stick. Luis Patino’s slide reached new heights with a 1.70 WHIP in AAA in 2023. He’s just never been able to regain the magic of his rookie year in 2021, and is now working as a reliever. Packy Naughton – obviously, we remember the name as it’s memorable – but the 27-year-old reliever’s performance is not, and he’s now recovering from flexor tendon surgery in his elbow. Vesia & Naughton (BC), Varland & Patino (B)
Prospects of Significance
There’s a lot to like with Luisangel Acuña. He’s great at putting bat to ball, has plus speed, and can play a defensive premium position. But he’s also a very aggressive hitter and doesn’t have average power or a swing geared for it. If his swing decisions improve there’s a star turn awaiting, but if not, we’re looking at a profile that has lots of SB and low-double digit HR, but with an OBP too low to serve in a lead-off capacity. And look, he’ll only be 22 this year so there’s maturity to the mental side of his game coming – the biggest question is, how much? Now in the Mets market, the cost to acquire Acuña is at an all-time high. To make it worth it he needs to mature fast and to the 90th percentile outcome – which to me is something like .280/.370/.470 with 15-20 HR. (BC)
After repeating AA for the first 33 games of 2023 and putting up a .430 OBP, Andy Pages was deemed ready to make that final step toward the majors. Unfortunately that only lasted 1 game, as he went down to a season ending shoulder injury. Pages’ calling card is pull-side power. His swing is geared for loft, and he’s shown a propensity for waiting for that right pitch to punish as his 12.6 career BB% indicates. Other than injury, the only hurdle Pages has to clear is going to all fields a little more. Kye Schwaber has made a career of this profile, but it’s an awfully thin path to walk if these pull tendencies continue. But,at 23 for the entire season and facing a loaded Dodgers outfield ahead, he’ll have plenty of time at AAA this year to figure it out. There’s always been a lot of love for Pages’ power in the hobby, and prices continue to indicate the expectation that he’s a 30 HR bat. (B)
Xavier Edwards is never going to be a star in the hobby. But his debut was so very impressive in every aspect (that was expected of him) that he could very well be an All-Star in the next few years. Edward lacks power – his peak season for HR might even be less than 10. But he makes up for that in speed and hit. They’re likely both plus weapons for him. Lifting the ball is a complete afterthought – he’s trying to hit the ball at a low angle and get out of the box, and after 3 years of experience in doing it in the high minors, he’s pretty great at it. He posted a sub-7 K% in AAA this year! That mostly continued in his brief debut with the Marlins where he filled a utility role. That role is likely to continue in 2024 with Luis Arraez occupying 2B, but if Avisail Garcia pumpkins look out for a big bump in Edwards’ playing time. (B)
The deodorant of Everson Pereira’s power isn’t quite enough for the Yankees to give him significant playing time, but it’s easy to see a future for him somewhere as a short-side platoon corner OF. That’s where I think his future is. In the hobby though, the power potential wins out. The apparent 30 HR power is what the folks in the Yankees market sees, and that’s what keeps him held in such regard for the hobby. Pereira has never had a K% under 26% in the minors, and more telling, has never had a SwStr% under 15%. He simply whiffs a ton – and it showed in his 100 AB sample in the majors where he had an unseemly 38 K%. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not worried about the 0 HR in that debut – his power is very real. When he makes contact it’s really hard. There’s a way to go for his hit tool to be good enough to make it in the majors. (B)
Other prospects
Do I think Joey Cantillo is more than back-end starter? No, that’s why he’s down here. Do I think he will be a back-end starter? I do. It’s command that’s been Cantillo’s big bugaboo, but as he moved into Cleveland’s system he learned to not prioritize it – let the command be poor and just let his stuff do the talking. His best pitch is a plus change-up and paired with his fastball that can reach the high-90’s now, he gets plenty of swings and misses. It’s the Edward Cabrera profile essentially, but Cantillo is coming from the left side. If he can get some semblance of command in his curve and slider, there’s a better upside. Added to the 40-man, I think he debuts this year sometime for Cleveland. With that system’s devil magic I would not be at all surprised to see him string together some solid starts in the majors and see a brief small spike in hobby interest. (B)
Ivan Herrera was anointed as Yadier Molina’s heir apparent what seems to be three years ago, but since then the Cardinals signed Willson Contreras to a 5-year deal, so that’s out the window. Still, his bat is exceptional for the position – so much so that he’ll see a little time at DH in 2024 in addition to being the backup catcher. I’d expect around 200 AB’s without potential for more barring injury – it doesn’t feel great hobby-wise. Still, he’s a significant supporting member of the club – every team could use a bat with a full-season projection of 15 HR / .350 OBP. That’s just not his role with this team. (BC)
After his 2021 season where he battled shoulder and blister issues, I completely buried Jackson Rutledge from my mind’s eye. It even makes sense in the context of 2022, where he was moved down to Low-A and spent the whole year there. But last year was different. He looked very much like a version of the player that was selected 17th overall in the 2019 Draft. Across AA & AAA he totaled 119 innings, and though his K% was low he limited hard contact and allowed just a .223 BAA. He even made a 4 game debut in the majors! What’s holding Rutledge back now, and what will keep him to being a back-end starter in the future, is his lack of command. It’s not just one pitch either – it’s all of them. He’ll start 2024 in AAA and look to improve in that area. (B)
If you want a pitcher with sleeper potential, check out Trevor McDonald (although his retail paper-auto only status hurts that a bit). The former 11th rounder performed really well in 2022 at Low-A, and after a delayed start in 2023, repeated the feat at High-A. He has a solid three pitch mix and has improved his command with maturity. Entering his age-23 season, there could be a big rise coming as he hits AA. (B)
I think Jacob Amaya will hit enough to make it as a bench/util, and he even debuted in 2023. But his above-average speed doesn’t play on the basepaths, and the rest of his tools are average to below average. Nothing less than that though, so there’s a small floor. Just not a floor for the hobby. It’s the same story for Ryan Kreidler, except he’s a year older and I don’t think he’ll hit enough to maintain a role. (both B)
Colin Barber, drafted out of a California HS in 2019, isn’t a sexy name in prospect or hobby circles, but there’s a nice path to being a 4th OF as a sum-of-the-parts type. Kendall Simmons has seen his progress slowed by injury every year as a pro, but he’s likewise projecting as a MLB bench/util granted health (which is a big if). Of a similar age and injury situation, Gilberto Jimenez is a little less certain to make it, but a full season of baseball would help him show he still has that potential above-average hit tool. Barber (both) Simmons & Jimenez (BC)
Still young enough to be age-appropriate for High-A where he was in 2023, Wilderd Patino is an odd profile that leaves him as a fringe prospect. Speed is the highlight, and his defense is an asset that’s also a definite positive. But for a low-launch angle hitter, he sure swings and misses a lot. Too much to have a MLB projection at this point. (BC)
Anthony Garcia’s elite raw power has never shown up in games because he simply has never made enough contact. There’s three consecutive years of little improvement in that regard, and he has no other tools. (BC)
More catchers. The Bowman Chrome product really hit them hard. Randy Florentino may have an average hit tool coupled with average defense – that’d make him a MLB backup, but the near-zero power puts a damper on that at this point. Pedro Pages is also a solid defender behind the dish, and has showed enough power to be a backup despite a questionable hit tool. He replaces Andrew Knizner as the AAA/org depth at catcher in 2024. Drew Millas fills the same role as Pages for the Nationals, with less power. (all BC)
Hey we like power, right? There’s a trio of power-only bats in Austin Shenton, Chandler Redmond, and Jerar Encarnacion in these products that are older, but might have some juice left. Shenton is definitely the most interesting. He’s the youngest (he just turned 26) and performed the best at AAA, but don’t get hung up on the .603 SLG or .301 average he put up there – there’s a lot of swing-and-miss in his game. He also provides close to zero defensive value or speed. He might get some run this year at some point, which could lead to a brief spike of hobby interest. Redmond and Encarnacion combined for 57 HR in 2023, but Redmond is 27 and hasn’t touched AAA, and while Encarnacion has MLB experience, he was DFA’d and doesn’t have a team right now. Ruben Cardenas has a little less power than the others, but is otherwise facing a similar situation. Shenton & Redmond (BC), Encarnacion & Cardenas (B)
It’s interesting that the Dodgers re-signed Ricky Vanasco to a MLB deal (not a split contract). He’s a reliever now and hasn’t debuted, but he has great stuff. There’s considerable hobby upside remaining, but it’s an upside from nothing to a little something. Nick Bennett is still with the Brewers, now converted to a multi-inning reliever and still not on the 40-man. His performance has been OK though, and the Brewers have a tendency to give guys like this a shot in the majors, especially as a lefty. I don’t know what Chris Vallimont’s future holds as he elected free agency this offseason even though he debuted this year, but I will always remember his auto’s getting pulled in breaks and thinking “more like Voldimort amiright?’. Vanasco (BC), Bennett & Vallimont (B)
I’m going to be fair and mention Avery Short and Max Lazar as well here. Short mostly pitched at High-A and is also just entering his age 23, but is more of a longshot at this point as he’s never built up innings from season to season. Lazar is a multi-inning relief arm that’s touched AA and done pretty well there, but he’s never been significant for the hobby. Short (B), Lazar (BC)
Other than Jasson, Jhon Diaz remains as the best under-22 prospect in these releases, but that’s not saying much. The diminutive OF showed a little pop in Low-A, but altogether he was just average for the level and doesn’t have any plus tools. There’s a good deal more to click together for him to have a projection to the majors, but there’s a chance. (B)
It’s time to stop believing in Robert Puason and Erick Pena even though they’re only 21. Puason had just 6 XBH in 238 PA’s, and Pena struck out 53% of the time in 2023. There’s not much hope in coming back from those numbers. Jordan Brewer, Niko Hulsizer, Christian Koss, Diosbel Arias, Phil Clarke, Bryce Ball, and Seth Gray all have elements of their game to like for the hobby, but they’re all at least 25 without MLB experience, and should be longshots to make it moving forward. Puason, Pena, Arias, Clarke, Ball (B). Brewer, Koss, Gray (BC). Hulsizer (both)
A starter at AAA for the Rockies, Karl Kauffmann was brought up to fill a swingman role sporadically throughout 2023 but remains a prospect entering 2024. His performance was not good at either level. Similarly, there’s not a lot of positives to take away from what Junior Santos, Aaron Shortridge, and Ethan Lindow have done recently, but they’re still starters and have reached the high minors, so get a mention. Same holds true for Yoendrys Gomez, except he made a brief debut for the Yankees. Cody Bolton had a significant taste of MLB action as a reliever with the Mariners, but it wasn’t enough to eclipse prospect status, and like the others here, it wasn’t good. Shortridge (B), the remainder are (BC)
Summary
Combined, these releases provide a great variety of established talent and prospects. Individually, Bowman is much stronger, buoyed by the big three of Witt, Dominguez, and Volpe, and it stands by itself as a solid release with some depth. Bowman Chrome is essentially an auto-only product because of the no-1st Bowman prospect chrome thing, and with three (Alvarez, O’Hoppe, Moreno) of the six (Harris, Acuna, Matos) best players being catchers there’s not a lot of ceiling.